1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Card Payment Systems for use in a multi-currency environment. In particular the present invention provides systems and methods for identifying an appropriate currency for individual transactions conducted using a card payment system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Several types of Card Payment Systems are available, examples of which include credit cards, charge cards and debit cards.
An example structure of a Payment Card System is illustrated in FIG. 1 comprising a point of sale terminal 1, an authorisation host 2, a collection/management host 3, transaction collection system 4, a treasury management office 5, a clearing bank 6, a plurality of card schemes 7, and a plurality issuers 8,9. A point of sale terminal 1, according to the prior art is shown in FIG. 2, comprising means for accepting payment card details 20. Examples of such means for accepting payment card details include keyboards, magnetic swipe systems, smart card technologies and point-to-point radio transceivers (WO9912136). Alternatively, the terminal may be connected to a communications network, e.g. the Internet, and the means for accepting card details may comprise software which accepts card details forwarded by the cardholder in electronic form, e.g. data posted from a hyper text mark-up language (HTML) form.
A flowchart demonstrating a typical payment transaction as shown in FIG. 3, commences with entry of a payment card's details 30, the terminal makes a connection 31 with the authorisation host using its communications hardware and software 22. Typically, this connection 10 is made over a public telephone network or wireless link, any other communications may be used e.g. the Internet. Information concerning the card details and if required the transaction are passed 32 to the authorisation host. The authorisation host checks 33 to confirm that the card details are valid and that the transaction is permitted. If the card details are valid and the transaction value is permitted, the authorisation host sends 34 an authorisation code to the point of sale terminal which then allows 35 the transaction to proceed. Typically a transaction slip is printed 21 for signature by the cardholder, whereas for an Internet transaction a conformational HTML page or e-mail may be forwarded to the cardholder. Optionally, some systems may provide an option 36 enabling a merchant to cancel 37 a transaction at this stage. If the authorisation host decides that the card details are invalid or that the transaction is not permitted then no authorisation code is given and the authorisation host informs 39 the terminal that the transaction is not allowed to proceed. The terminal typically outputs 40 an error message to this effect.
If approved and the transaction is completed, then details of the transaction are stored 38 in the terminal 1 in a transactions table 23.
As required, the terminal connects with the collection host as illustrated in FIG. 4 over a communications link 11 and transmits details 43 from the transactions table 1 to the collection host 3. The terminal typically prints a report 44 for the terminal user detailing transactions transmitted. Once all of the transaction details have been communicated the terminal disconnects from the collection host 45.
The terminal is typically controlled by software 24 which is configurable to different situations by means of an alterable configuration file 25.
The transaction details contained in the transaction table are subsequently communicated from the collection host to a transaction collection host 4 which in turn passes these details onto a clearing bank 6. The clearing bank 6 then sorts the transaction details according to the card scheme used for a transaction. The transaction details are then forwarded to the appropriate card scheme 7, which sorts the transactions according to the card issuers, with transactions concerning a given issuer being passed onto that issuers computer system 8, 9. The issuers in turn assign the details of transactions against a particular card to that card holders account.
An alternative system provides an intermediary called a central payment router which acts as an interface between one or more terminals and the collection and/or authorisation host. This alternative system is typically used in larger retail outlets where there are a large number of terminals. The use of a central payment router provides for greater efficiency, lower overall cost and permits the central collection of transaction details for a merchant, as details do not have to be accumulated manually from each individual terminal.
The exact method or system of conducting or processing transactions may vary considerably from card system to card system, bank to bank or country to country. For example, frequently the authorisation host and collection host are one and the same. Examples of various apparatus, systems and methods for handling card payment transactions include U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,010, U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,285, U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,517, U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,047, U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,306, U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,268, U.S. Pat. No. 3,723,655, U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,142, U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,531, U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,458 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,245.
In general, transactions involving a card payment are conducted in the currency of the merchant. Accordingly, if a credit card is used for a purchase in the USA, the currency of the transaction will probably be US$. This restriction can be inconvenient for cardholders travelling abroad, as they are unsure of the exact value (in their own currency) of the transaction. It would be advantageous if a cardholder could make payments in their home currency rather than the currency of the merchant with whom they are conducting the transaction, or view the transaction amount in their own currency for their information.
Furthermore, with the introduction of the EURO, the potential for conducting transactions in the multi-currency environment has increased. Each country participating in the European Monetary Union (EMU) will have in co-existence two currency units the EURO and the national currency for a transition period. As the transition period is quite long, it is inevitable that different issuers and merchants will convert their base currency from the national currency unit to the EURO at different times, with the inevitable result that merchant and consumers may be using different currencies. In addition, the growth of Internet commerce permits consumers to purchase from a greater variety of sources than was previously available. A large proportion of these on-line transactions will be conducted in currencies other than that of the cardholder.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous if a cardholder could view and/or make payments in their home currency rather than the currency of the merchant with whom they are conducting the transaction.
A variety of point of sale and other systems are available which permit multi-currency transactions in which the cardholder may conduct the transaction in the currency of their choice. For example, the Trintech Group (Dublin) provide a compact point of sale terminal and system which facilitates payment by the customer in the currency of their choice at the point of sale. A problem with these existing systems is that the merchant must enter the desired currency for the transaction into the system. In order to do this the merchant must determine the currency of the cardholder and check to see if this currency is permitted. This involves the merchant looking at the card and/or cardholder and attempting a determination of what country the cardholder is from. This determination requires action and some intelligence on the part of the merchant. In addition, with the advent of the Internet the point of sale is the computer, no human merchant may be involved and the payment card is not available for inspection. This also applies for transactions conducted from a distance by other means, e.g. fax or phone.
Accordingly, it would be an advantage if a method and system could be provided for determining the currency of a cardholder at the point of sale automatically, using only a payment card's details.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,185 discloses a system and method for automatically entering financial transactions such as credit card transactions into a financial account stored in a computer. A financial statement incorporating the transactions is provided in an electronic form understood by the computer, such as a computer data file, for updating the financial account. For a credit card account, the electronic statement includes one or more credit card transactions such as purchases. Before accepting the electronic statement, the process verifies that the electronic form of the statement has not been altered since its creation and therefore correctly reflects transactions in the original statement. In the process of entering the transactions, they are tracked by automatically assigning them to expense categories. First the process determines from the electronic statement if a payee for a transaction is of record in the computer and, if so, assigns the transaction to a category already associated with the payee. If not, the process next determines from the electronic statement a merchant category code such as a Standard Industry Code (SIC). The merchant category code is associated with a category recognised by the computer, and the transaction is assigned to the recognised category. If no recognised category exists, the process prompts the user for a category to which the transaction can be assigned.